Pan-fried salmon with sweet potato chilli mash

A sweet potato mash flavoured with chilli and garlic, compliment the panfried salmon perfectly in this simple mid week meal.

Prep Time5mins

Cook Time20mins

Total Time25mins

Course: Main Course

Servings: 2

Author: Jacqueline Bellefontaine

Ingredients

For the mash

350gsweet potatoes

squeeze of lemon juice

25gbutter

2spring oniontrimmed and sliced red chilli seeded and chopped

1clovegarliccrushed

For the fish

4tbspcrème frâichenatural yogurt or soured cream

2salmon fillets

a little rapeseed oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into chunks. Place in a saucepan with just enough water to cover. Add a few drops of lemon juice. Bring to the boil. Add a little salt and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or until tender.

Melt the butter in a small pan. Add the spring onions, chilli and garlic and cook gently for 2 minutes. Drain the potatoes and mash well. Add the melted butter and chilli mixture and beat in. Keep warm.

Meanwhile lightly oil a heavy based frying pan or griddle pan and heat until very hot. Add the salmon fillets, flesh side down and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, turn over and cook for a further 5 – 10 minutes until just cooked through.

Serve the salmon with the potato mash and a dollop of crème frâiche on top.

Step by step pan-fried salmon with sweet potato chilli mash

Cook the sweet potato in lightly salted boiling water with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Meanwhile cook the chilli, spring onions and chilli in the melted butter for a minute or two until softened.

Add the chilli mixture.

Mash until smooth.

Meanwhile pan-fry the salmon.

Handy hints

I like sweet potato but you can also make the mash with regular white potatoes.

Use cod instead of salmon.

Pan-fry the fish flesh side down then once it is seared, carefully turn the fish over and continue cooking skin side down – the skin helps to protect the fish as it continues to cook from the high heat on the base of the pan and also produces a lovely crisp skin which I like.

The salmon is cooked when the flesh flakes easily.

Use a griddle pan if you have one for attractive seared griddle marks.

I like to serve it with a green vegetable of some kind just to give the meal a nice balance.

A dollop of crème frâiche, natural yogurt or soured cream is a nice addition but not essential.